Amazon takes over maker of robot vacuum cleaners

With the purchase of iRobot, the online retailer is expanding its dominance in the area of ​​the connected home. Also: Musk accuses Twitter of cheating and Meta tests live streaming platform.

Good morning! Even during the weekend, work in the digital scene continued in many places.

The top topics:

Amazon is still in a shopping mood: As was announced on Friday, the e-commerce group wants to do so next iRobot take over. The US company is known for its self-propelled Roomba vacuum cleaners. The online retailer has agreed a purchase price of $61 per share for iRobot. This values ​​the manufacturer of smart home products at around 1.7 billion dollars. Amazon wants to pay this amount in cash.

If the deal clears US regulators, it will strengthen Amazon’s dominance in the connected home space. According to research published by eMarketer, as of February 2022, nearly one in three US households with internet access had either an Amazon Fire TV device, an Echo smart speaker, or both. Ring, which Amazon acquired in 2018, also commands most of the still-growing video doorbell market, according to a 2021 global survey. [Mehr bei The Information, Wall Street Journal und Handelsblatt]

on Founder Scene: It borders on a miracle that it is still possible in Germany Carsharing to use. So far, no provider has made money with it. In addition, there are stricter rules. Now customers also have to be prepared for rapidly rising prices, as mobility expert Don Dahlmann writes. You can read why in his new torque column. [Mehr bei Gründerszene]

And here are the other headlines of the night and the past few days:

Tesla-Chef Elon Musk accused Twitter as part of his lawsuit, apparently of fraud. The billionaire accused the short message service of misrepresenting the health of its business and key metrics about its platform’s users before agreeing to acquire the company for $44 billion in April. Twitter is also suing Musk to force him to comply with the deal that has since been canceled. [Mehr bei CNBC und Wall Street Journal]

Meta is testing a new live streaming platform for influencers called Super. The new platform allows influencers to host live streams, earn money and engage with viewers. The company has allegedly paid influencers between $200 and $3,000 to use the platform for 30 minutes. “Super” has been in development since the end of 2020. Behind this is Meta’s so-called Product Experimentation Team. [Mehr bei Techcrunch und Business Insider]

Cloudflare‘s shares are up more than 27 percent on Friday. The US company, which has built a global cloud network, thus had the best day for the stock since its debut on the New York Stock Exchange in 2019. The stock market euphoria triggered particularly good quarterly results and a forecast for the full year that exceeded analysts’ forecasts. Revenue increased 54 percent year over year to $234.5 million. [Mehr bei CNBC]

Paytm, an Indian digital payments startup, posted a huge loss in its quarterly results. After costs soared 70 percent, the fintech slipped $81 million into the red in the quarter ended June. Despite this, the firm, which is backed by Japan’s Softbank Group and China’s Ant Group, reiterated that it still aims to achieve operational profitability by the end of September 2023. [Mehr bei Bloomberg]

Upper90, a New York-based investment firm, has raised $180 million for its third fund. This focuses on financing start-ups in the early stages. Debt capital or a mixture of debt and equity capital are on offer. Upper90 was founded in 2018 by former Goldman Sachs trader Billy Libby and Seamless co-founder Jason Finger. It primarily supports fintech and e-commerce businesses. [Mehr bei The Information]

Our reading tip on Gründerszene: As of August 1st, the digitalization made a huge step backwards in Germany with the paper requirement for employment contracts. But there is also a bright spot. [Mehr bei Gründerszene]

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Have a good start into the week!

Your Gründerszene editors